Chapter 54: Sea ③

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Translator: Soafp

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The day before we set off for the sea.

Nodoka Komori and Airi Sugawara met up at a Starbucks near the station.

Just like last time, Airi ordered an Americano, and Nodoka got a café latte.

“So, Nodoka, what did you want to talk about?”

Last time, it had been Airi who arranged the meeting—but this time was different.

Nodoka was the one who had called her out.

“This trip… it's three nights and four days, right?”

“That's right. You were the one who insisted on making it longer, remember?”

“Yes. There's actually a reason for that.”

Nodoka glanced away slightly as she took a sip of her coffee.

She looked like she was searching for the right words.

Since she had gone out of her way to call Airi here, it was obvious this was something serious—about Ren.

“What do you think about setting aside some personal time on the second and third days?”

“Personal time?”

“Yes. Ever since we decided to team up, the time I get to be alone with Ren has dropped a lot… Well, maybe that's just me.”

Because Airi's house had burned down, she was now staying at Ren's place.

And even after her home was rebuilt, she clearly had no intention of leaving his side.

Naturally, that situation would seem unfair to Nodoka.

“So you want to make sure you get some one-on-one time with Ren on the second and third days?”

“Yes. And it's not that I don't like being with you, senpai! Honestly, I enjoy spending time with both you and Ren…”

Hesitating slightly, Nodoka continued more clearly.

“But at this rate… I feel like things between me and Ren aren't progressing at all. It's like… he hasn't noticed how I feel.”

“Hm… But Nodoka, do you really think Ren hasn't noticed?”

Ren was smart.

And if intuition counted as intelligence, he wasn't the oblivious type either.

Of course, even smart people could be strangely dense when it came to romance.

But Nodoka's feelings were obvious to anyone watching.

“I think Ren has probably noticed.”

“W-What!? Then he knows and is just ignoring it!?”

“I don't think that's it either.”

“Then what is it!?”

Nodoka's face flushed red as her voice rose.

She wanted him to notice her feelings—but at the same time, didn't want him to.

Those conflicting emotions were written all over her.

“My guess is… Ren is deliberately avoiding thinking too deeply about your feelings.”

“…Huh? What do you mean?”

“Think about his situation. I already confessed to him, right? And his ex, Kitayama, hasn't given up either. If he also accepts that you like him…?”

“…That's… yeah, that's kind of insane…”

“From Ren's perspective, he hasn't even sorted things out with Kitayama yet. He doesn't want to complicate things any further.”

In Airi's view, Ren was subconsciously convincing himself that Nodoka's behavior was just the closeness of a female friend—because that was the simplest explanation.

Even though, logically, it would make more sense to assume she liked him.

“If you just want alone time, that's easy. I don't mind. I can help set it up.”

“…So just being alone together won't change anything?”

“Right. Even if you go on what feels like a date, he'll probably just see it as an extension of friendship.”

“Then what am I supposed to do…? Is there no hope for me?”

“No, there's a really simple way.”

Airi smiled slyly and folded her hands on the table.

“Confess to him.”

“Confess… W-What!?”

Nodoka's loud voice echoed through Starbucks.

Just like before, she quickly shrank back and apologized to the people around her.

“If he's pretending not to notice, then put it into words and take away his escape route. Or… go further—kiss him, or more—so it can't be explained as ‘just friendship.'”

“K-Kiss, or more!?”

“What you want is for him to see you as a girl, right? Then you have to break that ‘just friends' premise first.”

Nodoka trembled like a broken robot, muttering, “Ah… ahh…” under her breath.

Airi found her reaction adorable and smiled softly.

Ren was still the most important person to her.

But she also wanted to cherish Nodoka just as much.

“If it's too hard, I can tell him for you—or help create the right moment. What do you want to do?”

Nodoka's tsundere attitude came from embarrassment.

Airi envied that purity, just a little.

And she could tell that Nodoka's feelings for Ren were just as strong as her own.

“…Why are you helping me this much, senpai? Honestly, it feels like more than just keeping Yuzuki in check…”

“It's simple.”

Airi took a sip of her coffee before continuing.

“Because I like you too.”

“…!”

Nodoka's face turned bright red, and she couldn't meet her eyes.

She looked just like a girl in love.

“Not in that way, by the way.”

“O-Of course I know that! I know the only person you like like that is Ren!”

“Do you? So, what will you do?”

The answer was already clear.

But Airi believed Nodoka needed to say it herself.

What she lacked wasn't opportunity—it was courage.

“I-I'll do it.”

“Do what?”

With a determined expression, Nodoka declared:

“During this trip… I'll confess to Ren myself!!”

---

“Glub… glub…”

In an instant, Nodoka sank into the water.

I quickly pulled her close and lifted her back up.

“You seriously can't swim at all?”

“W-Well… after COVID, my schools barely had any swimming classes…”

“Then just use a float.”

To be honest, I wasn't that great at swimming either.

Just basic school-level skills.

But Nodoka was clearly worse—she couldn't even float.

“But using a float… isn't that kind of childish?”

“What are you talking about? Plenty of adults use them.”

“R-Really?”

She glanced around.

“…Feels like it's mostly kids.”

“That's just your imagination.”

“You're totally treating me like a kid!”

“Don't worry, Nodoka-chan, water isn't scaryyy~”

“You ARE treating me like a kid!!”

Crap. I teased her out of habit.

If she got stubborn and something happened, that'd be bad.

“I hate being treated like a kid by you of all people!”

“Alright, alright. Then how about this—we practice floating? I heard saltwater makes it easier.”

“Really? Y-You'll teach me yourself?”

“Well, I only know what I learned at school.”

“Hmph… fine. I'll allow it.”

“Wow, how noble of you.”

“H-Hey! You're just planning to touch me everywhere under the excuse of teaching me, aren't you!?”

“Ah, my grand plan to fully enjoy every inch of Your Highness has already been exposed…”

I grinned like a creep on purpose, wiggling my fingers.

Normally she'd snap back with “Gross!”—but this time…

“J-Just… make sure you actually teach me properly too, okay?”

“…Uh, yeah.”

Wait—what?

Where was the usual comeback?

“Anyway, I'll go get a float.”

“So it's a float after all!!”

We started walking toward the beach house—

when suddenly—

“Ren-kun.”

Airi clung to my arm, pressing close.

“Some scary guys tried to hit on me.”

“Are you okay? You should've called me.”

“I told them I needed my master's permission—the one who turned my father in and took me in. They backed off surprisingly quickly.”

“…What?”

That logic jumped a few steps…

“Comfort me, Ren-kun.”

“You were actually scared, right?”

“Take me somewhere secluded—like behind some rocks—and comfort me.”

“That sounds like a different kind of ‘comfort.'”

She giggled and whispered in my ear.

“Don't worry. My body belongs only to you. I won't let any other man touch me.”

“I-I'm not worried about that…”

“You're lying. Your expression changed a little when I mentioned it, didn't it?”

Maybe I'd unconsciously thought of Yuzuki or Nagasawa-senpai.

“I'm kind of relieved. It means you see me as your woman.”

“I mean, that's—”

“Senpai! Tell us what happened first!”

Nodoka grabbed my other arm.

Lately, I kept ending up sandwiched between these two.

“So? About sponsoring that guerrilla live show—did they agree?”

Right.

Airi had contacted the agency of that idol group—“Jirai-chan Syndrome.”

“The sponsorship offer itself was received positively. Depending on things, they might even accept choreography changes we suggested.”

“That's good. Since they're just starting to break out, they're probably flexible.”

“If they were already huge, we'd have been ignored.”

“But they did give one unusual condition.”

“A condition?”

Airi nodded.

“They want us to meet them in person and convince them.”